It Has to Get Worse
by stingslikeabee
Summary: With the Glee club working up to the festive event of a carnival, Quinn and Rachel are in for a whole new level of thriller and suspense; thrown in with romance and drama. Reviews means updates so please, leave me a little something to work with.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: Okay, so, this is me jumping on the bandwagon known as the Faberry ship. This is my first attempt in writing for Glee and it's been awhile since I last wrote. I will admit…not my best work. To me, it sounds a bit choppy and all over the place. If there's anyone interested in helping me out with like ideas and beta-ing, feel free to contact me! Otherwise, enjoy. _

_Don't forget to review! I need the feedback._

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><p>Pen in hand, Rachel Berry appears to be making overly detailed notes during her AP History class; unknown to the outside world though, little attention was paid by the diva towards the story of the Russian Revolution. Instead, Rachel Berry sat doodling in her notebook with a glazed, distracted expression written on her face. Unbeknownst to said student was the intense glare of a certain blonde a couple seats to her right.<p>

"Ms Berry, would you so kindly tell me the name of the man who led the Bolsheviks victory during the Civil War?" Asks the grey-headed man at the front of the room. Without a moment's hesitation, the brunette drops her pen, flips her page and glances up to give her answer.

"Well, Mr. Mauver, it was Lenin's right- hand man, Leon Trotsky that led the Reds, who are the Bolsheviks seeing as the Whites consisted everyone else who opposed, with the use of transportation such as his train that lead to the easy distribution of weaponry and the lack of –"

"He gets it, Man-Hands," interrupts a familiar blonde with a perfected HBIC venom-laced voice. "Why not shut up and let him continue on with the class?"

Rachel had turned her gaze to the side as soon as the Cheerio spoke up and was met with the image of Quinn casually filing her nails. Mr. Mauver clears his throat and resumes to writing on the board, explaining the reasons why the Whites lost the civil war.

Rachel continues to look at the blonde, observing her ministrations of going between filing and writing notes. Before she knows it though, Quinn looks up and returns the diva's gaze, raising her perfectly sculpted brow as if to question – no, _challenge_ the gawking brunette. Rachel just about gives herself a whiplash, switching her eyes back down to her hands on the table. As a blush begins to develop on her skin, the bell signals the end of class.

Quinn is out the door before she could even gather all her books. Making her way out of the room, the feeling conflict between relief and disappointment leaves Rachel confused. Out in the hallway, the brunette sees Quinn by her locker, talking to her quarterback tree of a boyfriend; she feels a strange pang of jealousy and turns her gaze elsewhere. Before she can dwell on it though, a chilling voice speaks up behind her.

"Thirsty, Berry?"

Without even a beat to react, she feels the painfully cold embrace of the grape flavored slushy as it makes its way down her hair. The unfortunate victim makes her way to the toilets, after having stopped by her locker to fetch her very own 'slushy kit'; she rushes to avoid the laughing faces of the student body, including the a not-so-stone-cold eyes of a certain blonde cheerleader.

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><p><em>Looks like I need a new comb.<em>

In one of the many toilets in William McKinley, Rachel finds herself staring bitterly at her reflection, seeing a disheveled ghost of a teenager who seems to be holding a comb missing a majority of its teeth. From the state of her hair, one could deduce just how her comb had come to be. Giving up on fixing her looks for the day, the diva cleans up her equipment and gets ready for lunch.

"Nice to see the squirrel found a home," comments Tina as the brunette takes a seat beside her.

"What on earth are you talking about?" She questions the goth. "I can assure you that those furry animals ha-"

"Talking about your hair, Rachel," she cuts, pointing at a certain area where the brunette seems to have grown a forest. Becoming more self-conscious by the minute, Rachel brought a hand to her head and sought out to smoothen it.

"Yeah, well, you see my hair brush was a little less than helpful while I was in the bathroom earlier. You know, cleaning out the slushy-induced damage," she replies. Tina simply nodded in understanding while the unholy trinity walks past their table, Santana's elbow effectively nudging the back of the diva's head.

"Watch it, Rupaul!"

Rachel sighs deeply, as if to exhale growing frustrations on the treatment she was given in this hole. Lunch came and went and so did the rest of the school day. A few shoves here and there, added with a spitball in her English class, Rachel deemed her day complete once the bell rang.

After gathered her belongings, the brunette makes her way to the choir room for Glee club; a renewed confidence and smile put in place on her features.

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><p>"Okay, guys," Mr. Schue greeted the club, "I've got some news."<p>

The room broke out in noise, everyone turning to their sides to discuss the potential announcement.

"We've recently been chosen to perform during the annual Lima Carnival!" The man exclaims from the front of the room.

Mixtures of "No way!" "O-M-G!" and "This is so exciting!" were heard amongst the clubbers.

Clapping his hands, Mr. Schuester attempts to regain the attention of the class, "I know, this is so great!" He starts, "But we only have 10 days to get it together and perfect. So how about we split into groups for a couple minutes to choose songs?"

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><p><em>AN: SO…not much has really gone down as of yet, just warming up. Bear with me. Again, I'm going to need help with ideas later on and someone to read over and edit shit to see if it's all right. Let me know if it's worth continuing!_


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: I need help with this story. I'm having trouble making sure characters are developing in the right pace, you know? I don't want it to seem too rushed. But whatever, if anyone's interested in lending a few tips please message me._

_I missed this out in the first chapter: I don't own anything; characters, Glee, etc. _

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><p><strong>Still 10 days before the carnival<strong>

"Oh, hell no! You ain't getting another solo," argues Mercedes adamantly, "Besides, this isn't even competition, just a number for a friggin' carnival!"

Chin up and head held high, Rachel answers with just as much confidence, "Well, when you come up with an appropriate song choice for the night's festivities let me know. Before then –"

"Circus!" Is yelled out by a taller blonde cheerleader from the other side of the room. The class is stilled in slight confusion as Quinn addresses Brittany.

"Close, Britt, except we're performing in a _carnival_. They're different."

"No, I meant that we should do Britney's song _Circus_," she replies. Once again, the Glee club is rendered speechless, including the verbose brunette as they contemplate the song of choice.

Gathered her thoughts, Rachel speaks up, "I thought you didn't want to sing Britney, Brittany?" To which the blonde simply shrugs at and turns to Santana.

"Oh, San! Can we pretty please get one of the stuffed ducks at the cannibal?" She pleads the Latina with a glint of excitement in her eyes, which only grows at Santana's reply.

"Carnival," she corrects gently, bringing a hand up to affectionately rub on her blonde's back, "And sure we can, babe."

Rachel clears her throat and speaks lightly with a hint of hesitance, "Okay, how about Brittany takes the lead on this one?" The tall blonde beams at this, thankful to be in the spotlight. Rachel smiled back and feels a satisfaction when she sees the other blonde Cheerio with a similar expression on her face.

"Why not both of you just lead?" Quinn supplies, the small smile still playing on her lips. The room, once again, is stunned into silence from the more than civil interaction playing between the diva and the cheerleaders. Rachel can feel her heartbeat beating slightly faster from the suggestion.

Before she can reply, Brittany does it for her, "Yeah! Oh, this should be fun!" While to her side, the Latina's features remain expressionless with her eyes darting between her captain and Treasure Trail.

Taking charge of his class, Mr. Schue orders them to work on choreography and harmonizing; "Don't forget, we only have a week to prepare! Chop, chop!" For the rest of the class, Rachel has a satisfied grin on her face, something that could be due to a certain blonde…or two.

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><p>Out in the hallway Rachel walks towards her locker and opens it, finding a surprise waiting for her. Inside was a new comb gently placed in the middle of her locker. She eyes to suspiciously and takes it into her very un-manly hand. Her want to fix her hair overrode her curiosity as she proceeds to just comb her hair. After doing so, she places the comb in her emergency bag and closes her locker, only to see Quinn at her own; she takes a big breath before making her way to the blonde.<p>

"Quinn," the diva starts lightly, all the while clutching at her bag and books in her arms. The head Cheerio simply turns, raising her eyebrow in reply; her hazel gaze dead set on Rachel's brown orbs. "I just wanted to thank you," Rachel says, "You know, for suggesting I join Brittany as a lead."

A beat passes between the two, eyes boring into each other's before the blonde simply shrugs and goes back to sorting her bag. "Facts are facts, RuP- Berry," she lets out, "You're our best singer and any claim to fame we can get needs to be a good one."

The correction in the blonde's nickname towards the diva was not something either of them missed. Before Rachel could say anything about it however, Finn shows up behind Quinn in his football uniform.

With a small nod at the brunette, to which she reciprocated he asks Quinn, "Ready for practice?"

The cheerleader turns her gaze back to Rachel, their eyes locking once again as unspoken words are said. Rachel can feel her heart reeling, getting herself lost in the hazel abyss of Quinn's eyes. A small smile makes its way to Quinn's lips before she closes her locker and walks to wards the door to the field, a slightly confused Finn Hudson right on her tail. However, before she made it out the door, Quinn calls over shoulder.

"Your hair looks decent now, Treasure Trail," she continues her way, not waiting for the diva to respond.

_What the hell was that?_ Rachel thought to herself, turning around and making her way out the door. Oblivious to her knowledge however was the similar thought that reverberated on the other side of the school. Quinn's own mind spun around the shared moment between her and the brunette, as much as she dwelled on it, she couldn't hide the smile forming on her face.

Quinn turns to Finn who leans down for a kiss, she turns her face quickly and his lips land on her cheek. She simply pats him on the chest and makes her way to her cheer squad, smile still in place and leaving behind a disgruntled tree of a man.

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><p>"What are you smiling at, el capitano?" Questions her second in command as they do their warm up stretches.<p>

"Huh?" The blonde swallows and then quickly brushes her off with a, "Well I _am_ a cheerleader, San."

At this, Santana scoffs and replies, "Nuh uh, that smile was more of a 'Shit, I'm so smitten!' type of smile instead of the 'Fuck, yeah, I'm head cheerleader'" Quinn lets out a deep sigh, now hating the fact the Latina can see right through her; perks of being best friends since elementary school, huh?

Quinn shrugs, "I was just with Finn."

Again, the taller brunette scoffs. "I saw what just happened over there, you totally didn't let him kiss you. Trouble in paradise?" The lack of a response from the blonde gives her the answer she wanted. Before she could press any further though, a taller blonde makes her way to the duo.

Santana sits up and wraps an arm around Brittany's waist. "So," she continues, "who were you with before Finessa and you made your way here, Q?"

The blonde visibly stiffens before letting out a long breath and turning to face her two best friends. She rubs her hand down her face and mumbles, "IwaswithRachelBerry."

"Say what?"

"I. Was. With. Rachel. Berry."

Quinn's blush has completely taken over her face, her eyes looking over her shoes while Santana's jaw drops slightly but a knowing glint forms in her eyes. On the other hand, the taller blonde squeals slightly before turning to face Santana.

"Told you, Santi!"

"Yeah, you were totally right, baby," Santana smiles affectionately at her girl friend. "Looks like I owe you the handcu-"

Not wanting to hear more of _that_, Quinn asks, "What do you mean by 'told you so', Britt?"

The taller blonde answers Quinn with a smile on her face, "Oh, nothing really. Just that you and Rachel are totally like sea otters." The captain's eyebrows furrow in confusion but Santana swiftly translates.

"She means that you've totes got the hots for Man-hands." With that, Quinn straightens up further, bug-eyed like a deer caught in headlights. "Anyway, what's up with that? You've totes been hot and cold with Treasure Trail."

"Sea otters? And I do not so I don't know what you're talking about!" She attempts to argue but her two friends both wear knowing smirks. The blush that begins to rise in the shorter blonde's cheeks does nothing whatsoever to help plead her case.

"Because sea otters are just adorable."

"That they are, sweets. But seriously, Q," Santana addresses the head cheerleader. "If you wants to gets in her pants, you're going to have to woo the damn girl."

Quinn looks at her best friend speculatively and then turns to the taller blonde, "Did she just say woo?" Which earns her a punch in the arm. She laughs it off with Brittany and officially starts practice while contemplating the idea of 'wooing' a Miss Rachel Berry.

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><p><em>AN: I'm not sure how regular updates will be. I'll try not to let you wait too long though! Please review, thank you. _


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Like I said in the summary, I'm going to need your guys' feedback if I'm meant to continue with this. Please read and review, thanks! Sorry, it's a short chapter._

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><p><strong>9 days until the carnival.<strong>

The tension in the near empty choir room can be felt from a mile away, palpable with its intensity. Inside was a fuming giant, stomping his feet and sporting a rather large purple stained shirt. His face red with anger, steam practically coming out of his ears.

"I can't believe this!" He screams, kicking over a chair. "Why again? I mean, I'm still the captain of the damn team."

On the other side of the room, Quinn shakes her head. She always knew Finn had a horrible temper. They had run in here after her boyfriend got slushied the second time this year and was now attempting to calm him down.

"Finn, I know it sucks," she starts, "But you could imagine what others may feel like? The ones who get slushied _everyday_?" With that, her mind wanders to a certain brunette, her chest giving an unfamiliar ache of regret and guilt. _Why are you such a softy, Fabray? Get it together. _However, her words don't do anything to calm down her male counterpart.

"Well then, why can't they just leave me alone and torment the losers!" Finn exclaims throwing his hands up in the air. "People like Cortez or Simon or- or Rachel, for God's sake!"

With the mention of the brunette, Quinn tenses and attempts to control the rising anger she feels. After taking a long needed breath, she sees Finn with an expression that could only be described as if a light bulb has turned on in his head. Before she can question it, the rest of the Glee clubbers pile into the room.

Mike Chang enters first, "Dude, what happened here?" Similar questions were asked amongst the other students but by this time, Finn had already rounded the room to fix up the chairs, a weird smile on his face. Quinn, still confused on her part, takes her seat next to Brittany while the rest of the club settled.

Rachel Berry was the last person to walk in to the room, an occasion that only came rarely. Like magnets, the brunette's eyes pulled towards the blonde's hazel ones. The diva takes her seat in front of the room, efficiently breaking their connection.

"Hey, Jew Berry," greets Puck as he takes his seat behind her. The brunette turns to him and returns the greetings with a smile. She liked the mohawked boy to a certain extent, he could be nice enough and he no longer treated her as horrible.

The rest of the class period was spent by the club practicing their number, only getting about a third of the way done with the choreography.

"That was great, Brittany," addresses Rachel as the much taller blonde showed her potential moves for the lead singers. Brittany quickly gets up and beams at Rachel, showing her gratitude with a light squeal.

"Thanks!"

"Great job today, guys," calls Mr. Schuester from the front of the class. "We got quite a lot done so there's no need for an afterschool session. Go on to your next classes."

People quickly shuffled out of the room; Finn and Puck discussing football plays, Brittany and Santana linking pinkies, Quinn behind them and Rachel right beside her. They both share a reaction as their hands gently brush each other's, the blonde biting her lip and the brunette ducking her head to hid their blushes.

"You did well today, Berry," says Quinn quietly in the hallways as the pair made their way to the shared math class.

It takes a beat for the blonde's comment to sink in. Taking a deep breath, Rachel simply smiles and says equally as quiet, "Thanks, Quinn." They enter class and take their respective seats, a couple away from each other to which Rachel couldn't decided if it was a good or bad thing.

Throughout the class, she left her mind to wander about a certain blonde. She couldn't quite place when the shift in their relationship had started but she sure as hell was thankful for it.

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><p>At the end of the school day, Quinn was making her way down the hall to her locker when she catches Finn with a couple of his teammates in the corner. She notices the mischievous glint in his eyes as he whispered in the huddle of football players sans Puck. Out of the blonde's hearing range, the team discusses.<p>

"For real?" Asks Azimio, straightening his posture slightly.

"Yeah, man."

"Well, I'm down," he replies, "But what are these guys gonna do?"

Finn mimics Azimio's stance and answers, "Just an addition to the audience is all." With that, he dismisses the team with a smirk ever present on his face and makes his way to his girlfriend.

"Hey," he greets, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. Quinn tenses for a split second before replying and continuing to fiddle in her locker. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. But umm," she answers, "What were you and the boys talking about over there?"

"Where? When?" He questions.

"Over there," she points out, "With Azimio and whatever."

"Oh, right," Finn starts before shrugging, "Just some game play is all." He walks Quinn to her car and closes the door for her. "Wanna go to Breadstix later?"

"Errr," she fumbles while putting on her seatbelt, "Not tonight. You know, I've got homework and stuff, Finn."

He sports his boyish frown, "Oh, well okay. I'll just see you tomorrow then." He gives her a quick peck before walking to his own car.

After settling at home, Quinn takes her phone out to text her second in command.

**Q: Hey, something is up with Finn.**

**S: What's Fetus Face up to now?**

**Q: I don't know! Him and his football friends were having some weird discussion type thing. **

**S: Hmmm. Well, I don't know what to tell you, Q. Guess we'll have to just wait to see what Finessa has in store for us, huh?**

**Q: Looks like it. Anyway, need to do some school stuff. Later.**

Shutting away her phone, she proceeds to gather her belongings and starts her homework. Though as much as she tried to concentrate on calculus, her mind couldn't help wondering back and forth between her boyfriend and a her not-so-secret crush.

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><p><em>AN: Again, I apologize for the length of this chapter. And don't worry you guys, I promise it's going to pick up its pace soon. PLEASE REVIEW._


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: It's picking up a bit in this one. Disclaimer notice, as I do not own Glee or the characters...as much as I'd love to. Enjoy this chapter; it's sort of loaded with Faberry. My longest one yet and please review!_

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><p><strong>8 days until the carnival<strong>

By 7 A.M. sharp, a certain diva was already up and about on her daily routine. One can't help but notice the 100-watt smile present on her face; Rachel Berry was quite a happy girl this morning. Why, you ask? Well, she'd tell you that it's because yesterday was a good day. She talked to Quinn _and _she avoided being slushied the entire time at school. _Maybe it was because of Quinn that I hadn't?_

The brunette has been thinking a lot about that blonde lately. She had no idea where these particular feelings were coming from or when they even started. But as hard as she fought it, Rachel Berry couldn't deny the fact that she had a major crush on Quinn Fabray.

After taking her shower and having breakfast, Rachel hops in the car and makes her way to school. She walks right through the doors and straight to her locker, the smile from earlier in the morning still present on her face. However, it didn't last long seeing Azimio in her peripherals with a slushy in hand. Hoping it was meant for someone else, she continues to sort through her locker and organizing her books. She soon realizes that there is no one else and braces herself for the onslaught of the freezing beverage.

"Boom!" The barging voice of Azimio shouts as he practically throws down the slushy on the diva. The cold is piercing at her skin and Rachel suddenly notices the audience that had accumulated around her. The roaring laughter of the student body froze Rachel in the hallway. She starts to tremble, scanning the faces of the school; only to land on a pair that soon grew to be her favorite. The hazel eyes were looking back at hers with an intensity she couldn't understand.

Quinn's heart was just breaking at the sight of the diva in distress but she couldn't move. She felt her feet burning, the urge to run to Rachel and help her so strong but her mind reeled her in. _Not yet, not now._ Though her heart was saying the complete opposite. The hurt and anguish in Rachel's eyes became too hard to bear that Quinn had to look away and she hung her head in shame, taking refuge in her shoes. After a beat, she looks back up to find the diva gone. Scanning the crowd, she finds Finn sporting an evil smirk and suddenly feels her temper rising.

However, before she could act on it, Santana came up beside her and nudged her shoulder with Brittany on her other side. "Q?"

"San," she whispers, "I couldn't move, San. I couldn't go help her."

"Yeah, that's no good," her friend supplies rather unhelpfully. "But really, what could you have done? You help Man-Hands you'd totes get shit for it."

"Still…" Quinn trails off, "I feel horrible."

"Aww, Santi," the taller blonde says, "I hate seeing Q sad!" Brittany then proceeds to exhibit her own frown, effectively getting to the Latina's soft side.

"San, could you just, you know," Quinn starts, "Ask someone to get her bag for her?" She finishes with a pout and when that doesn't work, Brittany joins her and the Latina instantly relents with a roll of her eyes.

"Oh lawdy, okay. You!" Santana blares to a near by freshmen. "See that bag?" She points to the open locker of the brunette where her emergency bag appears to sit. The shy girl nods her head quickly and takes a gulp. "Take it to the girls bathroom and give to Berry, got it? Good." Not wanting to disappoint the Unholy Trinity, she runs and does as instructed.

"Thanks, S."

"Yeah, bitch, you owe me one," she answers linking pinkies with Brittany and walks to class. Quinn goes on her day sadly, a truckload of guilt and shame resting heavy on her chest.

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><p>Back in the girls' restroom, the petite brunette cries hard in one of the stalls. The hurt she felt enough to have her on her knees, she couldn't even get up to get her bag from when someone placed it in front of the stall. She didn't understand why she felt so hurt, this happened all the time, right? But deep down, she knew. When her eyes met with Quinn's, she couldn't help but feel a slight bit of hope that she'd help but nothing.<p>

She kicked herself for expecting that, it _was_ Quinn Fabray after all; gorgeous Quinn Fabray, the prettiest girl she's ever seen. She wanted to hate the girl, she really _really_ did but she just couldn't quite make herself to. She was hurt, yes, majorly and slightly angry but still, Rachel always had a soft spot for the blonde. Sighing and shaking her head at her own stupidity, she gets up and starts to clean herself up.

Halfway through, she suddenly remembered that _someone_ had brought her bag to her. She was curious but oh so thankful for the person who had brought it, she was silently hoping that it was Quinn that had done it but she dismissed that thought as soon as she had came up with it.

After dealing with the mess, Rachel decided to get up and get to class; thankful that her next 2 classes weren't shared with the blonde. Right up until Glee, Rachel realizes she didn't want to face Quinn in fear of feeling that pang of hurt would intensify.

As usual, she was the earliest one there so she waited until the rest of the room piled in, some giving her sympathetic smiles. She couldn't bring herself to return the sentiments but stood up as soon as Will entered the room, thankful the cheerleaders have yet to make an appearance.

"Umm, Mr. Schue?" Rachel starts, "I'm not feeling well today, I'm feeling rather dizzy and have a headache. Could I possibly go to the nurse for now? I'm sure I can catch up on our next practice with the choreography, is that okay?"

"Sure thing, Rachel," the curly haired man replied, "Feel better soon."

With that, Rachel smiles her thanks and makes her way out of the room, just in time to see Santana and Brittany walk in. The Latina simply ignored her presence while Brittany gave her a questioning look mixed with a sympathetic expression. She kept walking but suddenly stops when the head cheerleader steps through the door.

Their eyes meet instantly, the hazel apologetic while the brown ones were just plain hurt.

"Rachel," Quinn whispers so quietly that she doesn't think the diva heard, but seeing the brunette's shoulders both relax and tense simultaneously signals she must have. However, before Quinn can say anything else, Rachel ducks her head and proceeds to leave the room.

Rachel couldn't shy away from the truth about how she felt hearing the blonde say her name. The effect it had on her, it was like she was being washed by a wave of calm and peace but given the situation as to the pain she was feeling then, Rachel _had_ to walk away.

She also couldn't deny the guilt she saw in the blonde's eyes, thoroughly lessening any hints of anger Rachel felt. All these thoughts were bombed by one very big thought, one that made Rachel both hopeful and slightly uneasy. _Maybe she likes me too...?_ _No, don't be silly, Rachel. It's all in your head. _

Sighing to herself, she opens the door to the nurse's office.

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><p>It's the end of the school day and Quinn has done nothing but notice that Rachel had been avoiding her. Sure she missed the class after Glee but the blonde knew the diva went to all of her other classes. Knowing she had to talk to her, Quinn stood in her locker waiting for the brunette to go to her own. When the target does show up after most of the hallway had been cleared, Quinn takes a breath and walks up to her.<p>

"Rachel," she starts. The shorter one turns abruptly, a look of shock written all over her face.

_Why does she keep calling me that?_

_Because it's your name, stupid._

"Quinn," she replies, schooling her face with a blank look; trying to hide the fact there were about a million butterflies on steroids in her stomach, she was also oblivious to the blonde's similar predicament.

"Are you," Quinn says gently, "Are you okay?" Rachel is taken aback with the softness she hears in Quinn's voice, as well as the concern evident in those hazel eyes.

The diva clears her throat before supplying a nod, "Yeah, I am fine. Why do you ask? Do I not look okay? Oh well, of course not, my hair must be-"

"You look fine, don't worry."

"Oh," a beat, "that's-that's good."

An awkward moment of silence falls on the both before Quinn digs into her bag to hand a notebook to the shorter girl. "Here, you missed history class so I figured you'd need this."

Rachel takes it wordlessly, her actions not having yet caught up with what Quinn just said. "Umm," she stutters. "Wow, you really don't have to. I'm sure I can-"

"Berry, it's fine. Can't have you falling behind now, can we?" The blonde says zipping up her bag, attempting to keep herself busy to steady her racing heart. "Anyway, I've gotta run to practice now."

"Oh well, okay. Have fun!" Rachel supplies as Quinn turns to walk away. The taller girl scoffs and replies with heavy sarcasm.

"Believe me, I will."

As soon as she was out the door, Rachel takes a much-needed breath. She heads for the choir room to work on her vocals, setting her bags down at the nearby chair. Before she starts warming up though, she figured she might as well copy the notes down now. A few minutes into, the diva receives a text from an unknown number and hesitantly opens it. Her stomach drops slightly and her eyebrows furrow in confusion.

**You should be sleeping with one eye open.**

She dismisses it quickly, concluding that it was someone playing a stupid prank or someone being unnecessarily mean. Rachel even entertained the thought that the message was sent by Santana. Without dwelling on it too much, the brunette deletes the text and pockets her phone.

Back on the field, the Cheerios were working on their new routine but blonde could hardly concentrate right now, the psychotic butterflies in her stomach were making it harder to. She had done a whole lot of thinking lately and she had realized that she felt so much for the diva a long time ago. That what she thought was hatred or annoyance was really quite the opposite. She found Rachel's quirks absolutely endearing, her hands so very delicate and her features incredibly attractive. Quinn can't, for the life of her, understand how the brunette always seemed so friendly to her, despite the hell she's been put through.

The head cheerleader found herself on top of one of the miniature pyramids when she felt the loose footing of her teammate give out and it effectively drops Quinn. Though a short fall, the blonde had managed to hurt her wrist. She winces as she gets up, immediately tending to her new injury.

"Oh, Q, are you okay?" Asks Brittany concerned. Not wanting to slow practice down (Coach wouldn't allow such a thing to happen), she nods her head and forces a smile to her teammates.

"I'm good, I'm all right." And so practice continues, no one noticing that Quinn had been wincing and holding her wrist closer to her body than usual. When the Cheerios were done, Santana goes up her captain.

"You need to take care of that," she says simply. Not even attempting to argue or deny it, Quinn nods in agreement.

"I'll go to the nurse's office to pick up a bandage wrap or something, some ice." And she does just that, going through the hallway with her two companions behind her, failing to notice the brunette in the choir room.

Just about to walk past it, Brittany speaks up, "You sure you're wrist is okay, Q? No need to go to the doctor's or anything?" Quinn smiles over her shoulder to her best friend.

"It's probably a small sprain, B, nothing to worry about."

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><p><em>AN: Too much happening in this chapter between the two? Or maybe not enough? Good God, whatever. Let me know what you guys think. Reviews, please. No, seriously, they mean updates._


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